Not That Bad #Wattys2018

Chapter Five

Eventually, Mom and Dad are going to notice that I wasn't going to school. So I decide to go down to breakfast at the usual time and play sick. I run down the stairs and just before I walk into the dining room, I start walking slowly, dragging my feet against the polished wooden floor.

"Honey, what color is this?" Mom asks me when I sit down, showing me a picture of a dress on her tablet.

"White and gold." I yawn, reaching over to put some bacon in my plate. Mom gives Dad pointed look and he rolls his eyes. I watch them and slowly shovel eggs into my mouth. If I do everything right, my parents will be convinced that I was sick. I have to do everything right. Timing is extremely important. Dad takes a big sip of his coffee.

"If you eat so slowly, you'll be late for school, Rori" he says. I chew slower than before. Mom puts down her tablet and looks at me carefully.

"I'm not really feeling well." I say, clutching my tummy."I... I have cramps." I contort my face, like I'm in serious pain.

"You poor thing." Mom squeezes my hand and Dad gets up to pat my head,"You should stay home today."

I nod my head slowly."Only if I have to." 

The face Dad makes looks so proud. A laugh escapes my throat and I double over and turn it into a cough/groan. I have to bite my lip so I don't smile. I can't ruin this. 

I let Dad carry me up to my room and I even allow him to kiss my forehead and bring the blanket right up to my chin like he did when I was younger. When I turned twelve I told him to quit it. 

Mom gives me a hot water bottle and all the things I need: pain killers and tampons and green grapes.

Yes, my parents are naive. Yes, I sometimes took that for granted. But I'm their first and only child and they're supposed to make all the mistakes on me right? As far as I'm concerned, I'm doing their next offspring a HUGE favor.

As soon as I hear the front door close I run downstairs to look at my parents drive off. Then I lock the door just in case Mom forgot her purse or something. I plop down on the couch in the living room and turn on the TV. The bad thing about staying home on a week day is that there really isn't anything to watch. All the good stuff plays after school. So I put it on Food Network because I can't cook shit, but eventually I go up to my room. 

I decide to throw away all my Jaq related things. His watch, our very first detention slip, the black box of fancy cigarettes. When I get to his gray shirt I feel my eyes water. Fuck Jaq. He wasn't even around and he wasn't making me cry. And according to Fergie, big girls don't cry. 

But that was his favorite shirt. It was my favorite shirt. I can't bring myself to throw it so I chuck it under my bed.

***

Someone rings the doorbell and I open my eyes one by one and stretch. I don't know when I fell asleep but there I am legs on the couch and head on the floor. Mom will kill me if she saw my feet on the couch. I get up and look through the key hole and it's the bitch. I can't believe she had the nerve to come back here.

"I can't believe you had the nerve to come back here." I say, shoving her shoulders hard.